The Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, have been making films together in their native Belgium since 1978, but they did not achieve major success until the mid-1990s, when their films began appearing regularly in the main competition at Cannes. In 1999, Rosetta won the Palme d'Or, the top prize. In 2005, The Child (L’Enfant) won the same prize, putting them in the rarest of categories – double laureates on the Croisette. Two Days, One Night premiered at Cannes this year to a rapturous response. The presence of French star Marion Cotillard (Piaf) had a lot to do with that success. She plays Sandra, a woman who will lose her job at a small factory in Belgium unless she can persuade her co-workers to forego a bonus. Management has left it up to the 15 workers, in a classic act of bastardry – will they choose solidarity or self-interest? She cannot afford to lose the job, and the film follows her agonising and dogged attempts to change her co-workers’ minds, aided by a supportive but not terribly confident husband (Fabrizio Rongione). A Dardenne brothers film is always a humanist document: this one is combined with an unexpected level of suspense. Cotillard is transformed, proving again why she is one of the most gifted actors of her generation. The film won the Sydney Film Prize at this year’s Sydney Film Festival.

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